by Paul McElwee
RAIL travel could soon be back in Donegal after Letterkenny was included in a ground-breaking report setting out a vision for the development of an all-island rail system in the coming decades.
Jointly commissioned by the Department of Transport and the North’s Department for Infrastructure in 2021, The All-Island Strategic Rail Review, in the context of the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ agreement would, if fully implemented, see a new single-line decarbonised rail line in Letterkenny connected to a dual-track railway connecting Derry to Portadown – the only line in the report connecting Donegal to the rest of the island. The report sets out a total of thirty-two strategic recommendations to enhance and expand the rail system on both sides of the border up to 2050.
The report estimates the capital cost of implementing all the recommendations by 2050 would be between €35 to €37 billion in 2023 prices.
As a result of a public consultation between November 2021 and January 2022, the report identified a number of issues which, it says, have hampered rail lines on the island from ‘reaching their full potential’.
Findings of the consultation included significant gaps in rail coverage, low service frequencies compared to other rail services in Scotland and Denmark, having the lowest level of electrified railway in the EU, an inconsistent quality of service and station access, no airport connectivity, a lack of integration between major cities, infrastructure limits and the country’s natural assets hampering potential development corridors.
Among the recommendations in the report are a commitment to align net carbon zero commitments north and south, transform the quality of the rail system to passenger benefits through additional track capacity which would increase the route length from 2,300km to 3,000km across the island, electrification, increased speeds and higher frequency services, with the North Midlands and North West set to benefit from the widening accessibility and connectivity.
Costings for the ambitious project have been estimated at a capital cost of €35bn-€37 billion/£29-£31 billion in 2023 prices if all recommendations are to be implemented by the proposed 2050 target with the monetised benefits to society expected to cover the costs, such as faster journey times, roads decongestion and greenhouse gas reductions.
The Southern portion of the investment will be split evenly across 25 years, with an amount of €1 billion per annum (in 2023 prices) over and above existing plans whilst the North will see a total capital annual cost of approximately of £0.31 billion.
Both Minister for Transport, Ireland, Eamon Ryan and his counterpart in the North DfI Minister John O’Dowd, warmly welcomed the ‘historic’ document.
“This is not just the first All-Island Strategic Rail Review; it is the most ambitious vision for rail in a century, bringing us forward to a new age of rail. This vision has been made possible by close cooperation between the Departments and agencies north and south.
Rail not only allows us to carry more people and freight in a more sustainable way, it is the great connector, enabling greater regional accessibility and balanced regional development. The Report provides a long-term vision and a series of recommendations for the sustainable development of the rail network on the island. I would like to see the recommendations actioned as soon as possible,” said Minister Ryan.
The Department of Transport has already engaged the EIB Advisory Services in order to help progress the implementation of the Rail Review’s recommendations in the years ahead.
Assisted by the EIB, the Department of Transport and DfI, and agencies north and south, are working to progress the Report’s recommendations with progress reported through the North- South Ministerial Council.
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